“I hadn’t thought of it that way!”

Boy, do I love hearing that. I’m happy to say that I hear that a lot.

It means that whomever I’m talking with is open to getting out of the rut they’ve been in, and are actively looking for a different perspective. And that’s my wheelhouse. Asking the powerful questions and offering observations that open the door to really examining how they think. Getting to that result is something I’m darned good at.

Getting into choice.

Examination puts you into choice - a fantastic place to be. When you’re in choice, you’re more likely to take the time to step back, pause, and put yourself in front of your decisions, rather than being reactive. It can be uncomfortable at first, but the more you practice, the more confident you'll get with the process.

I love working with people who want to do more wonderful things, and who aren’t quite sure where to start. But they know they want to start. They’re energized by the idea that there’s more, and they’re ready to give themselves the gift of the time and work needed to explore possibility.

I love it because they’ve put themselves into choice. Getting there can be a challenge.

Starting is easy. Get a glass of water, cup of coffee or something else, find a blank piece of paper and start writing on it.

Write your way to choice.

Things you can write:

1. A bucket list

2. A list of goals for the next week

3. A list of goals for the next month

4. A list of goals for the next year

5. A grocery list

6. Whatever comes into your head, without editing

7. A poem

8. A story

9. Your ultimate day

10. A chores list.

Wait…. what was #6?

How’s that going to help?

Well, doing ANY of this is a start.

It’s writing with the ultimate purpose of clearing away what’s cluttering your head, so you can get to what you’d rather have in your head.

Remember, this is just a really quick exercise to get you thinking.

If you’ve done The Artist’s Way with me, or with another group, or the way I did it the first two times - on my own - you’ll know that Morning Pages are a critical part of that programme, designed to move you forward with your creativity. Julia Cameron, the author of The Artist’s Way, has very specific instructions for achieving the best outcomes with Morning Pages, and it’s extremely effective. I’d love to do it with you, though you can definitely get a start without it.

Notice, please, that I didn’t say, “Start a Journaling Practice with the prettiest hardbound, Tomoe-paper notebook you can find, the loveliest Washi Paper decorations and a gorgeous fountain pen filled with iroshizuku asa-gao ink (yup, pen and ink lover). That may be way too much pressure. It’s definitely way too much pressure for me. But a lined piece of notebook paper? Simple. Chewed up pencil? Great.

I’m all for starting with simple. It’s been proven that the physical act of writing rather than typing is helpful for memory and imprinting, so I suggest writing rather than typing. But you do you. Key here, is to keep writing.

The goal here is to change things up.

To start the wheels turning so the mental doors start opening.

Then, as you start exploring things you’re surprised to come across in your mind, that can be when you get an accountability partner to spur you on (coaches are great at this - just saying!), and to help you do the deeper exploring.

I’m going to point you back to my very first blog post, because the analogy of getting the most fruit by turning over the leaves, and contorting yourself while picking, is one of the best I’ve come up with to explain the work. You miss fully half the berries if you don’t take the time to really get yourself under and into the berry patch, bending, moving and reaching to discover what you weren’t expecting was there.

The reward for the mental work, like the reward when you have a basket brimming with berries destined to be jam for friends and family, is well worth it. Do let me know if you would like to find out more! I’ll even share my Black Raspberry Jam recipe with you.